Introduction:
In the last blog, I talked about why I’m making this modpack, as well as some basic details about it. Today, I’m going to cover all the mods included in this pack, as well as why I included them. I’ll also touch on some mods that I didn’t include, and why.

What kind of mods are in this pack?
This pack aims to be an approachable kitchen sink mod, with a diverse mod set ranging from Magic to Farming.

I'll be organizing this list by the different categories.

Performance
There are several performance mods on this pack, mainly to allow this modpack to be played on older/weaker PCs:
Sodium: Speeds up rendering drastically. Depending on your system, you can get up to 5x more FPS.
Sodium Extra: Adds a lot of the video settings that Optifine has, like animations, particles, details, and more.
Lithium: Speeds up the game logic.
Indium: Allows mods that use the Fabric Rendering API to work with Sodium.
FerriteCore: Reduces memory usage in many ways.
Memory Leak Fix: Fixes multiple memory leak issues. Pairs great with FerriteCore.

APIs
A lot of the mods require APIs. This section is dedicated to those (forgive me for my crude descriptions of these):
Fabric API: The most used API for Fabric mods, is required by a lot of mods.
Cloth Config: Another popular API. Has something to do with config screens.
playerAnimator: Allows for animation of the player model using keyframes.
Spell Power Attributes: Powers a lot of the magic mods in this pack.
Adaptive Tooltips: Makes the hovertext adaptive, so it doesn't go off the screen.
Ranged Weapon API: Self explanatory, makes adding ranged weapons easier.
AzureLib Armor: Has something to do with armor.
Spell Engine: Is an engine for spells.
Trinkets: An accessory mod.
Kambrik: Has something to do with the Kotlin language.
Cristel Lib: Adds configuration to structure mods. Towns and Towers wanted it, so I added it.
CICADA: Required by Do a Barrel Roll. Does some things.
Cardinal Components API: Does something with... data... not sure which mod needed it.
Fabric Language Kotlin: Allows using the Kotlin programming language with Fabric.
Lithostitched: Makes world gen mods more compatible?
Geckolib: Animation library.
Forge Config API Port: Lets modders use the same config from forge for other modloaders.
Shield API: Custom shields.
Structure Pool API: Lets modders inject custom structures into structure pools.
TerraBlender: Makes adding custom biomes easier or something.
Architectury API: Makes multiplatform modding easier.
CreateDragonLib: Some obscure mod required by one of the Create addons.
YACL: Yet Another Config Library.

Now for the actually interesting mods...

World Generation:
These mods change the terrain generation, or modify/add structures:
Terralith: Adds lots of new biomes, but only using vanilla blocks. This solves the issue that Biomes O' Plenty adds, since it won't overwhelm you with new wood sets.
  Incendium: Same as the above, but for the Nether.
  Nullscape: Same as the above, but for the End. I find this pack better than BetterEnd, since it keeps the End feeling barren, while still adding stuff to it.
Tectonic: Changes the landscape to be a lot more impressive. Works great with Terralith.
YUNG's API: While technically an API, I found it to better suit this section, since it allows many structure mods:
  Better Dungeons: Enhances the vanilla monster room, and adds a few unique variants.
  Better Nether Fortresses: Makes Nether Fortresses bigger and more impressive.
  Better Mineshafts: Makes Mineshafts better, including biomes variants.
  Better Ocean Monuments: Makes Ocean Monuments even larger, and very cool looking.
  Better Strongholds: Larger and Better Strongholds.
  Better Witch Huts: Adds a few variants to Witch Huts.
  Better Jungle Temples: Makes Jungle Temples massive, and adds some RNG to the structure (I think).
  Better Desert Temples: Makes Desert Temples massive, multilayered, and adds some RNG to the structure.
  Bridges: Adds bridges that generate occasionally. Just a neat little structure mod.
  Extras: Adds a few smaller, more minor structures like ruins. Nothing major, but it was still worth including.
  Cave Biomes: Adds 2 cave biomes with new blocks, items, and mobs.
Towns and Towers: Adds several new structures, like new outposts and villages.
Dungeons and Taverns: Adds new structures, mostly smaller compared to T&T.
ChoiceTheorems Overhauled Village: Adds larger villages that, in newer versions, doesn't replace the existing villages. Has several compatibility packs for:
  Friends and Foes
  Create
  Farmer's Delight
  RPG Series:
    Paladins and Priests
    Wizards
    Gazebos

Technical:
I only chose 2 core packs for this section, but I think together they cover both sides of technical mods, mechanical and digital:
Create: Adds a bunch of mechanical things, and a little bit of electronics. Reminiscent of Satisfactory. I also added several addons/compatibility packs:
  Steam n' Rails: Expands the train system.
  Slice & Dice: Compatibility with Farmer's Delight.
  Deco: Adds many new decorative blocks that match the aesthetic of Create.
  Copycats+: Adds several new copycats (blocks that can have any texture applied to them).
  Big Cannons: Self explanatory, and why not?
  Enchantment Industry: Allows automation of enchanting.
  Bells & Whistles: Adds fancy new train blocks.
  Jetpack: Jetpack. Need I say more?
  Extended Cogwheels: Adds new cosmetic variants to cogwheels.
  Interiors: Adds a few new interior blocks.
  Structures: Adds naturally generating structures that have create mechanisms.
Computercraft Tweaked: That computer mod from Feed the Beast, updated for modern versions of the game. It's one of the only mods in this pack carried over from FTB.

Magic/Combat:
While these are technically different categories, the mods in them overlap enough to warrant merging the categories:
Better Combat: Improves combat animations while also adding a few new mechanics.
Combat Roll: Exactly what it sounds like. Pressing R rolls in the direction you're facing.
Runes: Adds runes which work well with the RPG packs.
RPG Series: These are some mods that add classes to the game, and I figured they'd be worth adding. I'm pretty sure it works similar to MC Dungeons, so the classes aren't hardcoded:
  Archers: Adds spells and abilities for Archers.
  Paladins & Priests: Same as above, but for Paladins and Priests.
  Rogues & Warriors: And so on...
  Wizards: And so forth.
  Gazebos: Adds new structures into villages, which helps to kickstart your spell journey.
  Jewelry: Adds accessories that are both fashionable and functional!
Bountiful: Adds bounty boards in villages that give you quests. Great if you're getting a little bored.

Farming:
This area of the modpack is relatively light in terms of mod count, but Farmer's Delight adds a lot of content:
Farmer's Delight: Adds many new food items, food stations, food tools, and food mechanics. In case you haven't noticed, it's about food.
  Expanded Delight: Adds even more food items, food stations, food tools, and food mechanics.
NiftyCarts: Adds carts that you can pull around to carry animals and materials, and till/path dirt. All 3 cart types can be attached to a horse.
AppleSkin: Adds visible stats to food, and a few other things. This is the other mod from FTB.
At first I didn't want to add this, as it felt too modded. The more I thought about it, however, and as I was adding the Farmer's Delight mod, I decided it'd be good to know how healthy the new food was.

Misc:
These are all the mods that didn't fit into a specific category:
Iris: Adds shader support.
JEI: Makes item recipe finding (not just crafting) a lot easier.
Durability Tooltip: Shows the durability of tools in the tooltip.
While I could use Advanced Tooltips, it shows excess things like IDs and Tags. Which can get very chaotic with modded items.
Do a Barrel Roll: Makes flight with Elytra more natural.
  Rolling Down in the Deep: Does the same for swimming.
Explorer's Compass: Adds a compass that can locate structures, similar to the /locate command.
Nature's Compass: Does the same as the above, but for biomes.
Minecraft Comes Alive Reborn: This is that old mod that makes villagers more dynamic, and lets you build relationships with them. This is the new version of that, which adds even more stuff.
Mod Menu: Adds a menu to allow configuring mods.
Distant Horizons: All this terrain would be wasted on a render distance of 32. This mod allows incredibly high render distances with minimal performance impact.
Traveler's Backpack: Adds a backpack. Simple as that.
Jade: It's the modern version of that mod you see in FTB that tells you what you're looking at.
  Jade Addons: Adds mod intergration. One feature is built in goggles for Create, but I'm probably going to pass on that feature (it's configurable).
Small Ships: Adds more boats.
Friends and Foes: Adds all the mob vote losers, as well as giving functionality to the unimplemented mobs like the Illusioner.
  Beekeeper Hut: Adds a beekeeper hut to villages.
Nyph's Spiders 2.0: This mod will really be up to you for if you want to keep it or not, but it makes spiders more agile and generally more terrifying.
Zoomify: Fancier zoom as opposed to Logical Zoom, which mimics the zoom in Optifine.
Enitity Texture Features: Believe it or not, this mod supports modded mobs, so I figured it'd be worth it to include it.
  Entity Model Features: Companion to the above mod.

Honorable Mentions:
These are mods that I decided against included for one reason or another:
Biomes O' Plenty: Just adds too many new blocks for my taste.
BetterNether: Again, adds too much stuff.
BetterEnd: Once again, too much stuff.
Zoomify: While it offers more customization than Logical Zoom, it doesn't increase the resolution.


That's for this blog. In the next part, I'll walk through my testing of this pack, and some settings I configured to match it to my tastes.

If you have any questions, or ideas for mods to add, let me know in the comments!